According to Bob Engelhardt :
Ooooh - now you've done it!! Now you've gotten me hooked. I suddenly
have this obsession to find a good, cheap one on eBay. That means
researching the models, checking Completed prices, eBay searches and
watching. Rats!
DoN. Nichols wrote:
...
With a quick search through eBay I find auction #7598573080
which has a crimper by AMP which can handle two sizes of terminals --
those for the red terminals (22-16 Gauge), and for the blue terminals
(16-14 Gauge). The current bid is $15.50. ...
That would be my first choice - 95% of my crimps are in that range. But
it's at $47 (shipped) with 6 hrs to go. Too much. (Googling this
crimper found retail offerings for $700, $800, & $900. YIKES!! Maybe
$47 isn't too much.)
:-)
You might do better with lots of patience. I have the
individual crimpers for each size range, and most of the non-hydraulic
ones cost something in the $15.00 -- $35.00 range -- with the lower
price being the ones acquired longer ago.
Red and Blue are the two sizes which I use the most, but I've
used (here at home) crimped terminals up to #6 Gauge, and down to #28
Gauge (excluding pins for connectors, for which I have used even
smaller.)
Here is an example of what I use -- auction #7599234970
(currently at $9.95) ...
This is curious. The auction picture shows a sticker with yellow "14 -
12" & red "22 - 16":
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7599234970
Note that there are different terminal types listed for those
two ranges
22-16: (red) for PIDG (Pre Insulated Diamond Grip) -- the terminals which I
normally use.
14-12: (yellow) for something called "Pre Insul. Sealed", which I have
not used to date.
So -- for normal use, that is a "red" crimper only.
but the spec sheet at Mouser shows it 16 - 26:
http://littleurl.com/?04io click through to "Manufacturer Data Sheet".
Anyhow, no-blue,no-good.
Not so. I don't see *anything* which covers the 26-16 range
(larger number -- smaller gauge -- is first in the size range listings).
The 47386 (the one shown in the auction) is in the "red" list.
"blue" is 47387 instead -- the next group down. Both are "long handle"
style, as are most above the 26-22 range (small yellow), and some of
those are long handle as well.
Bob
wait - I'm doing my eBay searches on "AMP crimper", are there any other
brands that I should be looking for?
There are other brands, but I don't have experience with them to
decide which to recommend and which to not.
Add "P.I.D.G" or "PIDG" to the search terms, and it will reduce
the number of other crimpers which you turn up. Ideally, only
"P.I.D.G." should be necessary, but you can't depend on eBay vendors to
avoid taking the lazy way out sometimes. :-)
P.I.D.G. is about the design of the insulation. It has a bell
to accept the wire's insulation, with a lip turned back towards the
terminal barrel to grip the insulation. In older terminals, it is a
layer of thin sheet metal between the plastic insulation and the metal
terminal barrel. In the later ones, with the nylon insulation, it is
the nylon itself which is turned back. (Those are mostly translucent,
with a color stripe in the Nylon, instead of a solid color.)
The crimper has pins which fit into one of three numbered holes
on each half of the head. This changes the size of the insulation
crimp, while the wire connection crimp remains a constant size. The
crimped insulation grip takes on a diamond shape with ears "--" , and
it is the walls of the diamond which grip the insulation to keep it from
sliding back up the wire.
I've used other brands of crimpers for machined pins which
insert into the backs of connectors. The best of these is the
"Daniels", but it needs a separate one for each size of pin. The four
indenters are controlled by a wheel which can be locked into one of
eight positions to set the depth of the crimp.
Amphenol (not to be confused with AMP) makes (or made) such
crimpers in which the bushing nest also set the depth of the crimp.
Buchannan also made some good ones.
For the terminals which are stamped and formed out of sheet
metal (including the pins most often used with the DB-25 style serial
interface connectors), the crimpers from AMP will be marked with a
"Type-F" designation, and there are several sizes of these. If you care
about these terminals, too, at least one version for the DB series
connectors is labeled "90312-1". It has provisions for two wire size
ranges, 28-24 (blue), and 24-20 (red). On the back is a sliding
terminal nest made of Delrin which will slide to the side and then up
between the jaws to allow insertion of the terminal, then it is slid
back down and back to the other side (where a spring holds it) to hold
the pin in the proper height and orientation until the crimp is
completed. This one does not have the "Type-F" designation visible on
it. Mine does have a marking from some company's tool room, however. I
got it from eBay, after having used one of the same sort at work.
This is for the terminals with two sets of 'U'-shaped ears, one
to crimp onto the bare wire, and the other to grip the insulation. The
cheaper pins have only one set of ears -- for the wire only, and the
insulation is left outside the connector body. The crimpers for those
are the cheap tools combined with bolt cutters, and they have no ratchet
to ensure a complete cycle before release.
Enjoy,
DoN.
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